DIABETES

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles. Often diabetes goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless. In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform. With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes. In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes [|www.diabetes.org] Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases in the United States each year. Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are 54 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 20.8 million with diabetes (http://www.diabetes.com/diabetes_information.html Men who get more iron from red meat have a higher risk of diabetes, but is not clear whether the iron or something else in the red meat is to blame. Researchers found 63 percent higher risk of diabetes in men who got the most iron from red meat compared with men who go the least. The heavy eaters at the equivalent of five quarters-pound burgers or one nine ounce sirloin or round steak a week. The researchers found no link between diabetes and the iron in supplements or chicken, fish, or other foods. Eat only limited quantities of red meat (beef, pork, and lamb). It’s too early to know whether meat promotes diabetes, but other studies have found a higher risk of prostate and colon cancer inn man who consume red meat frequently (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).
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